Stony Point Center juggles so storm victims can stay

Dec. 1, 2012

Sonia Castillo and her fiancé, Hector Roman, had their last breakfast at Stony Point Center on Friday. The couple and their child, who lost their apartment to flooding from Sandy, are expected to move into a new apartment in Garnerville. / Akiko Matsuda /The Journal News

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Elizabeth Karavanas, left, filled out paperwork at Stony Point Center's cafeteria. Karavanas has been displaced since Superstorm Sandy flooded her trailer at Ba Mar Mobile Home Park. She found one prospective apartment but is still looking for other options. Lionel Mathis, right, has been volunteering at the center to help out storm victims.( Akiko Matsuda/The Journal News ) STONYSANDY_2: Sonia Castillo and her fiancé, Hector Roman, had their last breakfast at Stony Point Center on Friday.The couple and their child, who lost their apartment to flooding from Sandy, are expected to move into a new apartment in Garnerville. (Akiko Matsuda/The Journal News) / Akiko Matsuda /The Journal News

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STONY POINT — Lidia Gonzalez looked relaxed as she chatted with her neighbors during breakfast at the Stony Point Center’s cafeteria Friday.

Gonzalez, 33, and other storm victims thought they might have to pack up Friday morning to vacate their rooms because the center was expected to be fully booked for conferences over the weekend.

But with another set of tireless juggling acts, Stony Point Center officials managed to open up 18 rooms for those people who have nowhere else to go.

“We can stay here,” said Gonzalez, who is five months pregnant. “It’s good for me.”

Since early November, Stony Point Center, a Presbyterian conference facility with 180 beds, has accommodated about 30 families, or some 50 adults and 50 children, because they had nowhere else to go after Superstorm Sandy destroyed or severely damaged their homes in the Stony Point waterfront communities.

Many of the people at the center are still struggling to recover from their losses, feeling overwhelmed by unfamiliar paperwork and bureaucracies.

So some people were worried when they learned they might have to leave their rooms this weekend because the center was expected to be fully reserved for conferences.

Volunteer caseworkers visited the center to assist families to speed their recovery process.

The center’s officials had assured the displaced people that accommodations would become available for the weekend if needed.

Keeping their promise, Stony Point Center officials managed to come up with extra rooms for those they are calling “storm guests” by asking conference guests to use fewer rooms and due to some last-minute cancellations.

“We’ve been bending over backwards to make sure nobody would be put out,” said Rick Ufford-Chase, co-director of Stony Point Center.

Storm victims at the center said they appreciated the assistance offered by Stony Point Center employees and volunteers.

Elizabeth Karavanas, 55, said her trailer at Ba Mar got two to three feet of water during the storm.

Karavanas was still waiting to hear from her insurance company about its decision on what’s covered.

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Karavanas has also been looking for an apartment, but her search is continuing.

Karavanas said Stony Point Center has been offering much-needed stability when she is surrounded by uncertainties.

“They are very, very nice,” Karavanas said. “They’ve been very helpful.”

Sonia Castillo, 37, echoed Karavanas’ comment, saying that the sense of community developed among victims and Stony Point Center staff has helped her keep going through this difficult time.

“Stony Point Center, they gave us a roof over our head when we felt like we had nowhere to go,” Castillo said. “Even though they are not my family, because of everything that happened, I feel like they are my bigger family.”

Castillo and her fiance, Hector Roman, lost everything — including furniture, kitchen appliances, toys, clothes, shoes — when their apartment on North Street got flooded with water mixed with sewage and oil, she said.

She said the couple will move into their new apartment in Garnerville this weekend.

Though the rent, $1,600, is more expensive than she had hoped, and the couple have no furniture to make it home, she wanted to move on for the couple’s 2-year-old son, Caleb Roman, who is diagnosed with autism.

“I’m going to be living in an apartment that has no furniture,” Castillo said. “Where do I start?”

Ufford-Chase said among 30 families, seven hoped to go back to their homes Friday or today. Most of the remaining families can move into the 18 rooms that became available.

Other families will sleep in cots in a dormitory space at the center for the weekend, and they can move back into rooms Sunday afternoon, he said.

It all started when the center took in a couple victims who sought help immediately after the storm.

The number quickly grew as the word spread.

Ufford-Chase said as many as 50 families have stayed at the center’s rooms and enjoyed meals offered at its cafeteria.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency later certified the center as an emergency lodging facility, meaning its expenses will be covered if guests qualify for the agency’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program.

Ufford-Chase said the center has welcomed everybody with or without the federal assistance. About 60 percent of the families have been approved for assistance, he said.

“It has been the greatest honor to support and encourage the courageous men and women and children who are working tirelessly to put their lives back together in the wake of such tremendous loss,” Paula Sandusky, communications manager for the center, said in the statement. “We give thanks to God for this opportunity.”

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has raised about $25,000 for the “storm guests” in Stony Point. Up to $1,000 per family will be disbursed when each family is ready to get back on their feet, Ufford-Chase said.

In addition, the center plans to match up victims with local churches who can offer further individualized assistance.